“NCIS: Origins” is a valiant effort to reinvent the “NCIS” series through the eyes of young Leroy Jethro Gibbs, but CBS’s review of “NCIS: Hawaii’s mishandling may help explain the latest spinoff’s lower-than-expected ratings.
There’s a lot of enthusiasm for NCIS: Origins because it brings Gibbs back to the series years after Mark Harmon left.
There’s no denying that Gibbs has been one of the highlights of NCIS over the years, and while the show has rejuvenated creatively in his absence, he’s still a missing piece of the puzzle.
There’s a lot to love about “NCIS: Origins,” with Austin Stowell convincingly portraying a younger version of the beloved character and Kyle Schmid delivering a masterpiece as Mike Franks .
The show is compelling and one of the best in the series, so why did audiences reject it?
The first season of “NCIS: Origins” is currently averaging 3.9 million viewers and a 0.28 rating among adults 18-49, ranking it 14th among CBS’ 15 scripted shows this season.
The show’s audience rose to about 6 million viewers, plus a 0.41 DVR rating for the week, but the overall numbers were very disappointing.
NCIS is doing well internationally, so there’s every reason to believe the prequel will get a bump in international sales just because of the Gibbs connection, but a likely scenario is that CBS cancels it after three seasons made NCIS: Hawaii and totally screwed it up.
NCIS: Hawaii is a hit show on CBS
Vanessa Lachey’s front-facing work provides sun-drenched backdrops, wonderful characterization, and a plot that sustains countless seasons.
When the show was fired, the biggest highlight was that its ratings were high and even increasing year by year, which is unusual in today’s environment.
So it looks more like the network is giving the middle finger to viewers who watch the show every week.
The backlash against the cancellation was fast and furious, with many likely viewing NCIS: Origins as a replacement for NCIS: Hawaii.
That’s sure to alienate viewers, so from that perspective, NCIS: Origins’ tepid numbers aren’t too shocking.
Cancel too many times at once
To make matters worse, the cancellation comes shortly after NCIS: LA’s favorite LL Cool J joins Hawaiian, not long after the Los Angeles-based spinoff was also canceled.
No matter how you look at it, this is a recipe for disaster. With one powerful swing, they plunged the dagger into the hearts of two fans.
The pain was even greater when people learned that NCIS: Sydney was staying on and Hawaii was being let go.
There are many motivations behind these decisions, and Sydney offers an added bonus as it is targeted at Australian audiences and automatic international sales of the production.
A compromise may have been found
Still, CBS wisely kept “NCIS: Hawaii” alive, even if the fourth season was cut.
Sharing half a season’s schedule with NCIS: Origins isn’t such a bad compromise, but with Mark Harmon behind “Origins,” we can understand why this happened.
Still, both shows have so many great storylines that it would be a win-win for the network to keep the overall NCIS franchise alive.
It wouldn’t be so bad if CBS moved “NCIS: Hawaii” to Paramount+ because that way it could continue to air even if the episode order was reduced, like other CBS-turned-Paramount+ series, “SEAL Team” and “Criminal Minds”.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to mention that two of those shows are now canceled as well.
Where does the NCIS franchise stand now?
It’s unclear if NCIS: Origins Season 2 will be released, but Harmon has a lot of sway with CBS and could return to NCIS for a short period to sweeten any deal sweet.
NCIS has not yet been renewed, so this would be an incredible deal. Not to mention, there could be opportunities for crossover content across the board, with NCIS: Tony & Ziva set to take off soon.
Considering the incredible fan base and the lives of the various characters, we expect there to be a lot more NCIS on Paramount’s map.
As it stands, we don’t even know if the current show will be renewed.
What are your thoughts on NCIS: Origins’ ratings? Do you think they have a connection to the cancellation of NCIS: Hawaii?
Do you think “NCIS: Origins” would have been more successful if the network had treated “NCIS: Hawaii” better?
Share all your thoughts on NCIS in the comments below!
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Watch NCIS: Origins online
